Washington -- Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is shaking up her congressional staff as she prepares to run for re-election in 2014. Jane Campbell, her chief of staff, is switching jobs with Donald Cravins, staff director for the Senate Small Business Committee, which Landrieu chairs. The switch takes effect Jan. 15, Landrieu said.

Cravins, 40, a former Louisiana state legislator, has better political contacts back home and can help Landrieu navigate what is likely to be a challenging 2014 re-election bid in a state that is growing more conservative and Republican.

Landrieu said both are "excited" about their new jobs. Campbell, Landrieu said, will work on developing a new tax code designed to help create new small businesses and enable existing small businesses expand.

Also on Jan. 15, Landrieu plans to move offices from her current location in the Senate Dirksen Office Building to an office in the Hart Senate Office Building now occupied by outgoing Senate Energy Committee chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.

Landrieu notes that the move is "somewhat ironic" because she spent considerable time in Bingaman's Hart office discussing energy policy.

Some of those discussions, Landrieu admitted, were "heated." Bingaman fought against Landrieu's efforts to increase and accelerate federal revenue sharing of offshore oil and gas royalty payments to producing states like Louisiana.

Campbell, 59, a former mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, said she looks forward to the new job.

"As we continue to work to strengthen our economy, the creativity of American entrepreneurs is vital," said Campbell, a Democrat. "We look forward to finding common ground with our partners across the aisle to build the best support for small business possible."

Landrieu first met Campbell in 1985 when both were the youngest women to serve in their respective state legislatures -- Landrieu in Louisiana and Campbell in Ohio.

Cravins, a Democrat and native of Southwest, La., who was once the only Louisiana state legislator to serve at the same time with his father, ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives against Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, in 2008. He is an attorney.

"We have a great team in place and much work before us, and I'm proud to continue working with Sen. Landrieu to serve the people of our state in this new role," Cravins said.

Campbell and Cravins have salaries of about $170,000, according to recent staff salary reports. The pay is consistent with salaries paid to top congressional staffers.